The invention generally relates to enteral feeding systems, and in particular enteral feeding pump systems. More specifically, the invention relates to an enteral feeding pump system for delivering medical fluids unidirectionally including a disposable fluid delivery set having a repeatable compression portion which is helically coiled to define a cylindrical shape. The compression portion pumps a large volume of medical fluids per stroke. Also, an enteral feeding pump configured to repeatedly and reliably compress the compression portion of the fluid delivery set along a central axis.
Enteral feeding pump systems are used to supply fluid nutrition to patients who are unable to eat. The pumping system consists of the pump and disposable tubing sets. It is well known in the art that pumping action for an enteral feeding pump system has been primarily achieved by rotary peristaltic and linear peristaltic systems.
The rotary peristaltic system is a common approach that requires the use of a fluid delivery set having an elastomeric tubing segment in contact with rotating rollers of a rotary peristaltic pump. The elastomeric tubing segment is typically made of silicone rubber because of its good durability. The use of this material also requires transitional hardware to connect to the lower cost PVC tubing of the fluid delivery set which are used to convey the fluids from a source container to a patient. The tubing segment made of silicone rubber and associated hardware add significant costs to the rotary peristaltic systems.
Another common enteral feeding pump system is a linear peristaltic system. The linear peristaltic system requires tubing that is compressed in a series of platens. The tubing required for the linear peristaltic pump is usually a higher grade (softer) PVC different from the low-grade PVC tubing used to convey fluid from a source container to a patient. The compression in the linear peristaltic system generates a unidirectional fluid flow that is controlled by the rate of the compression steps. The pumped volume per stroke for this approach is typically very small so that a relatively large number of compressions are required to meet flow demand and mechanical pumping components are stressed.
Therefore, there remains a need in the prior art for an enteral feeding pump system that provides for delivering medical fluids unidirectionally including a disposable fluid delivery set having a repeatable compression portion capable of pumping a large volume of fluids per stroke and an enteral feeding pump configured to repeatedly and reliably compress the compression portion of the fluid delivery set along a central axis. In addition, there is a need for compression in an enteral feeding pump system using lower cost and, preferably, lower grade tubing. Also, there is a need for an enteral feeding pump system that does not require transitional hardware to reduce the overall cost of the enteral pumping system. Also, there is a need for an enteral feeding system that requires less compressions to meet flow demand and does not stress other mechanical components.